A Vintage Affair

Good morning, Bellas!

We are SO excited to share details from Semhar & Mussie's wedding with you today! This Victorian slash Vintage themed wedding was beautiful and beyond detailed in every decor and fashion element!

Everything from their choice of colors -sapphire blue, canary yellow and platinum- to the intimate details in their table decor with blue damask print table linen, a combination of tall and short yellow vases and tall silver candelabras, personalized coasters, personalized flutes and a custom-made, personalized boon set for Melsi (day 2)- was perfectly orchestrated at the Paradise Palace, a stunning, victorian style venue full of hanging chandeliers!

Bypassing the usual 1,000 guest Habesha wedding theme, Semhar & Mussie settled (successfully!) with a guest list of 400 and created an intimate atmosphere for their guests with a cocktail hour (uncommon in Eritrean/Ethiopian weddings) and serenaded their guests with a live pianist as they ate, drank and enjoyed themselves!

Not only does this bride have impeccable taste in decor and design, but she is smart and efficient! She wanted a different look from ceremony to reception and instead of having a complete wardrobe change, she was transformed by changing some small details. Here's how she achieved it:

For the ceremony she wore- ball gown with train and cathedral length veil trimmed with crystals and a crystal headpiece; hair was down.

For the reception she wore- Same ball gown with bustled train, a french birdcage veil and a statement necklace; hair was up in a loose side bun.
Genius! She gracefully went from modest, traditional bride to hot, trendy bride with just a few simple arrangements! Love it!

The boon set- boon is the traditional Eritrean & Ethiopian coffee ceremony that is usually included in the Melsi (day 2). Check out this custom-made, personalized boon set that was displayed at their wedding! It had the bride & groom's pictures on it- SO unique and lovely!

Not only did Semhar successfully plan her wedding with much class and elegance, but she maintained a balance while doing so. She had these words of wisdom to share with our future brides:

"Marriage is much more than a day or weekend of festivities, though the celebration is important. Couples can easily get so caught up in planning an extravagant wedding and neglect preparations to becoming husband and wife; so do have a balance.
 Make the time in advance to be counseled by your priest/pastor, seek marriage counseling, or any other preparations (reading books together) to ensure your marriage will forever be pure and a long-lasting journey."

Read Semhar + Mussie's full wedding story HERE and check out more of their inspirational wedding pics and detail of vendors! 

To inquire about getting your own personalized boon (coffee ceremony) set contact Biniam at: biniamf@yahoo.com

One Day Habesha Weddings - A New Trend?

On July 27th, 2014 Bethlehem & Esrom tied the knot at the beautiful TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club while 200 of their family and friends witnessed a breathtaking ceremony as the couple became a part of the scenic masterpiece that comprised the beautiful Cascade Mountains of the Northwest!

As every wedding is unique and special in its own way, almost all Habesha weddings tend to follow the tradition of having a two day wedding affair; asserting the Eritrean or Ethiopian traditions and culture.

I believe there has been a turning point in how we celebrate Habesha weddings, especially with our generation, and the two day weddings just may be the first to be shelved. With creativity and a vision (and superb planning, of course!), I believe it is very much possible to successfully execute a one day Habesha wedding, incorporating the meaningful details of the culture into the day.

I believe Bethlehem & Esrom's wedding will be the wedding that is talked about for years to come! The simplicity, elegance and charm was just timeless! More importantly, not only did they make a sound financial decision, but they managed to step outside of the traditional norm (and stringent expectations) to appease their desires and thoughts for a dream wedding!

Hear from the bride herself about their decision to have a one day wedding, the difficulties it posed and how they managed to execute. Also, Bethlehem tells us her top Pros & Cons as well as whether or not she would do it all over again.

Find out what she said HERE!

Habesha Weddings | Beautiful & Complicated

Have you ever stopped to think about why there are so many people present at one Habesha (Eritrean & Ethiopian) wedding? Well, usually it's because our parents and families are heavily involved in the planning (it's almost like they were planning their own wedding) and they make a lot of big calls on how the 2-3 days long festivities will be carried out- number of guests being one of them!

The reason why Eritrean & Ethiopian weddings tend to be so large is because, culturally, they are celebrated with not only friends and family, but the entire community. They are tight  knit communities that highly honor and celebrate weddings among one another; usually with guests nearing 1,000 -- it literally feels like a concert (and yes, of course they're a lot of fun!).

This tradition has made its way over to the diaspora where most Habesha weddings continue to include entire communities.

                                                    

Personally, this was the most challenging aspect of my wedding and it's definitely the same case for most Habesha couples planning a wedding in the diaspora. This has been a topic of discussion for quite some time now.

Don't get  me wrong, I absolutely LOVE our beautiful Habesha wedding traditions; but (seriously tho) they can just be too complicated at times!

Recently, my generation has become privy to the western culture of a "guest list," which makes it challenging to negotiate guest size with our families. They want "the community" and we want "175 guests max." A lot of times we end up caving in to our parents' wishes because we love them and want them to be happy...after all it's not just our wedding, it's their wedding as well (or so it seems that way).

I've known brides to dish out some pretty clever negotiations with their families in order to have a more intimate wedding.

Because Habesha weddings are usually celebrated in a sequence of 2 days (Saturday- Western culture & Sunday- Habesha culture) some brides have  split these two days entirely and opted for a destination wedding for day 1 with close family and friends, and 2 weeks later celebrated day 2 with their "community!" Great idea! Wegahta + Reddi took this approach and Wegahta says her family fought the idea of a destination wedding at first but were elated and couldn't be more happier with the outcome! She says it was "the best of both worlds!" 

A split wedding (like the example above) can work really well.

Meet Feven Misgina Mesa- She and her husband planned for a split wedding with a destination wedding in San Juan, Puerto Rico and then back to the states for their cultural wedding day.... but they caved in to their mother's request and ended up with 3 total weddings!! One destination wedding and two weddings back in the states. Wow! Kudos to Feven and her family for pulling off three beautiful weddings!

Check out this sweet video Feven's sister Eden Misgina put together with pictures from their destination wedding in San Juan- it was intimate and beautiful, and looked like everyone had a blast!!

What do you think? Is this tradition here to stay or will we see more and more smaller and more intimate Habesha weddings in the near future?

Do any other African countries celebrate weddings in large numbers the way Eritreans & Ethiopians do? Tell us about it!

Are you a Bride who had a similar story or a ridiculously huge wedding? Share your stories with us, we'd love to hear how you managed! Leave comments below or email us for a possible feature of your wedding story: info@herbigday.info